


Game Changer

by angellwings



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, Dramedy, F/M, Family, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-15 20:45:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5799352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Gaza, Donna gets an offer that changes the course of her relationship with Josh, both personally and professionally. That offer also comes from the most unlikely of people. How will this change things? Will it be better or worse? With an upcoming end to President Bartlet's second term and huge decisions to be made for Josh, Donna, and their party's leadership, there's really no way to tell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Path Diverges

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a while back and just recently pulled it back out to work on it again during a recent rewatch. I hope you guys are up for this idea. I know there are some other canon divergence Josh/Donna fics out there but hopefully people enjoy this one too. The distance between Josh and Donna always bugged me in the last few seasons and one day I thought "What if Donna got a job offer before everything turned bad? How would that have changed things?" Well, here's where we find out!  
> Happy reading!  
> angellwings

Amy Gardner had an appointment with Josh. It would be the first time since before Gaza that Donna had seen Amy and she wasn’t looking forward to it. Amy would be her usual brash and fearless self and Donna…

Donna looked beaten. Sometimes she felt it too. She didn’t know if she’d have the energy to pretend to get a long with Amy. Then there was another issue. Another issue she was trying her hardest not to think about. Watching Josh flirt with Amy would kill her. Okay, not kill her. That was dramatic, but it would sting. More so than usual because—

She paused in her thoughts and glanced over at the pen Josh had given her when she’d gotten back to Washington. She took a deep fortifying breath before she pulled out Josh’s schedule again.

He’d dropped everything to be there for her in Germany and he’d stayed for days. He’d been there for her every step of the way. And yet the minute they were both back in the West Wing it was like nothing happened. Nothing at all. Like they were just boss and assistant again. Well, not just boss and assistant. They had never been just boss and assistant. She’d been his caretaker, his confidant, and his best friend but never just his assistant.

She never got what she really wanted though. Women like Amy and Mandy got that. And they didn’t properly appreciate it in her opinion.

“Hi, Donna.”

She froze as she was turning the page on Josh’s schedule and slowly looked up to see Amy smiling at her. She gulped and stood up from her desk to file some unimportant memos. “Hi, Amy.”

“He’s in, right? I have an appointment,” Amy said as she swept a quick glance over Donna. “How are you?”

“Me?” Donna asked. “I’m okay. I’m using the crutches less and less so that’s good. Or so I’m told,” she answered. “He knows you’re coming so you can go in whenever you’re ready.”

“I know. It won’t kill him to wait,” Amy said with a smirk. “So, how long is Josh going to keep you here?”

“What?” Donna asked in surprise. A sound bite of a previous conversation with CJ played through her mind briefly.

“I mean, you are way over qualified to pick up his dry cleaning and answer his phones. If I were still with the First Lady’s office I would have tried to steal you away by now. I bet you’d kill ‘em on the Hill,” Amy told her.

Donna gave her a shocked look but grinned slightly. “I—thanks. That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I saw the notes you took in—“ Amy paused for a moment as if she were unsure she should continue.

“Gaza?” Donna completed for her. “It’s okay. You can say it. I won’t fly into a hysterical fit at the mention of the place.”

“Right, sorry. But yes, there. You had some very good observations and I bet some even better ideas on how to help?” Amy asked in a leading tone.

“I’m sorry, is there a reason you’re bringing this up?” Donna asked as she opened a nearby filing cabinet.

“Just, I don’t know, reminding you how good you are. With all the aftermath around you I could see how that could fall to the wayside. Plus, knowing Josh…”

“Knowing Josh, what?”

“Well, you told me yourself. He doesn’t like to leave people behind so I can only imagine how close he’d want to keep you after nearly losing you,” Amy said honestly. Donna blinked at her but said nothing.

“Sorry was that overstepping?” Amy asked.

The corner of Donna’s mouth turned upward before she responded. “Yes, but you always do, don’t you? Why should now be any different? I am surprised though. I…never thought you…well I thought you didn’t like me very much.”

“It was never you I had a problem with. Not really,” Amy told her. “It was…it was how close the two of you were—are. But after you were…he left so fast that I think he broke the sound barrier, Donna. He would have never done that for me.”

“He would have,” Donna assured her.

“Okay, fine. Maybe he would have, but if, God forbid, we’d both been injured at the same time on opposite ends of the world, who do you think he’d have gone running to first?” Amy asked in a resigned tone that, to Donna’s ears, sounded heartbroken. 

Donna looked away from her and closed the filing cabinet in silence.

“Exactly,” Amy said with a sad smile. “Anyway, you should think about exploring your options. Some people out there would kill to have you on their team.”

Without giving Donna a chance to protest Amy turned and marched into Josh’s office with a bravado that Donna now questioned. She’d once thought Amy was always nerve wracking and conceited, but then again a lot of people thought that about Josh. He definitely wasn’t _always_ Josh Lyman. She knew that first hand. Amy had genuinely surprised her. Now Donna was left to wonder what Amy and Josh could possibly be talking about.

* * *

 

“Amy,” Josh said stiffly as she stormed into his office. She smirked and nodded at him.

“J, I see you’ve got Donna chained to her desk again.”

She didn’t know why she said it. But she did. And now she got to watch Josh’s face turn that particular shade of crimson that told her he was ready to explode. She’d seen it often enough that it barely intimidated her any more.

“I don’t see how that’s—“

“Oh shut up,” Amy said with a roll of her eyes. “You know exactly what you’re doing. You’re scared and you’re clinging. You almost lost her, realized some pretty heavy things, and now you can’t face them because you know, you just know—“

“Know what exactly?”

“That you’re losing her all over again,” she told him bluntly. “This time to something you can’t really help her with. Really, what more can you do for her Josh? Do you have some secret promotion in your back pocket that you’re planning to pull out the minute she gets a better offer?”

“I thought you didn’t like Donna?” Josh asked in a clipped tone.

“It was never her I didn’t like,” she repeated. “It was _you_ and _her_ , Josh. That’s what I didn’t like. Because much like you right now, I knew. I knew I was losing you. I probably never even stood a real chance against—well against _that_.” She said as she waved a hand between him and his, now closed, office door.

“What does this have to do with—what are you doing here, Amy?” Josh asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I’m here because of her,” Amy told him as she motioned to the door again.

His brow furrowed. “What?”

“I’m offering her a job.”

“She’s not going to want to be your assistant—“

“She doesn’t want to be yours anymore either, Josh,” she said waspishly.

Josh slammed his fist against his desk and glared at her. “Dammit, Amy!”

“And I’m not offering her a position as my assistant. She’s better than that. _You_ saw to that.”

“You can’t just—there are a lot of other people out there who could do—“

“No, there aren’t. You know that as well as I do. She’s talented, she’s smart, she’s beyond capable and—“

“She’s your mascot,” Josh interrupted in a strained voice. “She’s the victim of a terror attack who’s still recovering and you need the sympathy.”

“Excuse me?” Amy asked in an offended tone. “Are you saying that she’s not talented, smart, beyo—“

“You know that I’m not saying that. You _know that_. Of course she’s all of those things. She’s _always been_ all of those things. But I’m not going to let you use her to muster up sympathy. She’s worth more than that and she could do more than that,” he said through a tense jaw.

“Then make a counter offer. I’m not asking for permission, Josh. I’m here as a courtesy,” she told him sternly. “Have a good day. Oh and if you need any recommendations for a new assistant my office has a list for you.” She placed a business card down on his desk and then opened his door.

“Amy! Stop! I don’t— _why_?” He asked loudly. A chair squeaked against the floor outside of his office and they both knew Donna was listening.

“You need motivation to make a damn move and I need help on the Hill. It’s a mutually beneficial situation. Either man up or…no you know what, J? Just man the hell up!” Amy yelled before she turned on her heel and walked away from him. He watched in silence as she stopped by Donna’s desk and placed a business card in his assistant’s hand.

Donna stared after her with a shocked expression and then gave Josh a questioning look. He motioned for her to join him in his office and then slammed the door behind him. Donna flinched.

“So, your meeting with Amy went well then?” She asked with a grin.

“She’s going to offer you a job,” he stated seriously.

Donna blinked and then looked down at the card in her hand. “What? A job like a serious job?”

“A job with her organization lobbying on the Hill for Women’s Issues,” he said slowly as he watched her face for a reaction. Her eyes brightened and her lips twitched before she forced a sober expression and shook her head. It took all of a split second but he saw it. He knew he did.

She shrugged as if she didn’t care before she spoke. “I’m not gonna take it. Why would I want to work for Amy?”

A silence stretched out between them as he stared at her for much longer than strictly necessary. She shifted her weight to her good leg and fidgeted under his gaze.

“Josh?” Donna asked in concern.

“I think you should do it.”

She flinched again but this time it had nothing to do with a slamming door. “What did you say?”

“You should do it. Go work for Amy Gardner and do impressive things for women.”

“I—I couldn’t. I’m not—I’m an assistant, Josh. I’m not you or Amy,” Donna said as she wrung her hands and looked down at the floor.

“No, you’re better,” Josh said as he took a step toward her. “You’re more than an assistant, Donna. You’re compassionate and you care about these causes and the people around you. You know how this town works and you’re—you’re brilliant. There’s no reason you can’t do what she’s asking you to. None what’s so ever.”

“Do you… _want_ me to go?” Donna asked with a furrowed brow.

He chuckled bitterly before he spoke. “ _Want_? Hell no. I _want_ to keep you right here with me. I want to make sure you’re safe. But I’m not gonna be that guy, Donna.”

“What guy?” She asked cluelessly.

“Dr. Freeride, Captain Wonderful…I’m not going to let you give up what you want for me. And you want this—“ Donna opened her mouth to speak but Josh continued to talk over her. “Don’t tell me you don’t because I saw your face when I told you the news. You want this. You need this. You’re bored here. You know it and I know it and it’s not doing either of us any good to ignore it.”

She didn’t bother trying to object any more. She sighed and shook her head. “If I leave, Josh—If I leave who’s going to handle things here? Who’s going to take care of you?”

For the first time since seeing Amy’s name on his schedule this morning he smiled. “ _That’s_ what you’re worried about? Donna, I can take care of myself.”

She laughed. “No you can’t. Maybe you used to be able to. Barely, but you’ve become far too reliant on me, Joshua. Everyone knows this.”

“Everyone?” He asked with a teasing grin.

“Everyone but you.”

“No,” He said as he took yet another step closer. “I know it. Believe me I know it. It’s the reason you’ve got to take this job.”

“What are you talking about?” Donna asked in confusion.

“I almost lost you after Gaza. I’m not going to lose you _now_ ,” Josh told her before he took a deep breath. “Who am I kidding? I’m already losing you.”

“You’re not, Josh,” Donna said as she took a step toward him.

“If you stay here I will,” he told her. “You’ll resent me for keeping you here and I can’t get you anything else around here. It’s not that I don’t want to offer you anything, Donna, it’s just that I have nothing to give you. And the one thing I could give you turned out to—“ He stopped mid sentence and swallowed thickly.

“It wasn’t your fault, Josh,” Donna told him.

“I sent you there!”

“Yeah, and I asked you to! You sent me there because I asked to do more. If it’s anyone’s fault that I was there it’s—“

“Don’t say it,” Josh interrupted her. “You can’t do that.”

“I asked for more responsibility, Josh. You were just being a good boss,” She replied with a sigh and a quiet sniffle.

He shook his head. “A good boss would have told you someone from CJ’s office was going and you’d have to deal with it. What I did wasn’t being a good _boss_. I wouldn’t have done it for anyone else. For any other assistant.”

“Josh, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, I care way too much for you to simply be my assistant and you have to get out of here before I let you talk me into making you Queen of the West Wing or something,” he said gently as he reached for the sleeve of her blazer and ran a finger across the buttons on her wrist.

“Queen of the West Wing?” Donna asked with a smirk. “I like the sound of that.”

He chuckled and moved his fingers from the sleeve of her blazer to encircle her wrist. Her eyes darted to his hand and she smiled softly at him.

“So, if I take the job…are you still going to be here?” She asked hesitantly. “It’s not going to be one of those out of sight out of mind things?”

He grinned at her with an amused expression. “You think when you’re out of my sight you’re out of my mind? You really think that’s how that works? Donna, I couldn’t get you out of my mind if I wanted to.”

She felt him lace his fingers through hers and beamed at him. “Okay, so I guess I’m talking the job. Are you sure you’re okay with that? Me working with Amy?”

He sighed and shrugged. “We’ll see how it goes. I’m confident you can handle it. I’m not so sure Amy can handle you. She’s only seen your docile side.”

Donna laughed and shook her head. “Amy can handle anything. She’s…scrappy.”

“Nicer word than I’d use,” Josh told her. “When are you going to call her?”

“Tonight, I guess. Depending on how that goes I suppose I’ll give my two weeks notice tomorrow and then I’ll help you find a replacement,” Donna said quietly as she tightened her grip on Josh’s hand. “Am I really doing this?”

“Yes,” Josh said as he took a deep breath. He carefully leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. “You’re doing this and you’re going to be…amazing.”

She smiled brightly at him again and held up Amy’s business card. “I guess I’d better go. Do you need anything?”

He grinned slyly at the familiar question before answering. “Nothing I can have right now. It looks like I’m going to have to wait a couple of weeks for what I _need_.”

Donna blushed and her smile turned shy. “Oh, okay. Well, I’m gonna go home and call Amy. You’re sure you’re okay with this? It’s your last chance to back out.”

“ _I’m_ not one of your gomers, Donna. I’m not backing out. Take the job and then take the Hill by storm. I’ll stay right here while you do,” Josh promised.

“Okay,” Donna said with a grin. “But you can go home though. You’re not much use to me if you don’t shower or eat or sleep.”

He grinned at her. “Go home, Donnatella. Call Amy.”

She mock saluted him as she turned and left his office. “Sure thing, Boss,” She called over her shoulder. “See you tomorrow.” 

“See you tomorrow,” Josh called back with a smile. He was looking forward to it. Tomorrow might feel like a completely different kind of day.


	2. Two Weeks Notice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna officially submits her two weeks notice and, of course, everyone finds out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm updating this quickly because people have responded better than I thought they would and I wrote two more chapters since I posted this one. However, I'm gonna stick with a once a week update from now on. ;) Thanks for reading!   
> angellwings

 

She didn’t call him last night. He had no idea whether she actually accepted the job or not. He’d operated under that assumption all morning, but he had no clue of how true that assumption was. For once, he was in the office before Donna. He’d been in the office after Donna, yes, but never before. This was a new experience.

CJ furrowed her brow as she walked toward him. “What are you doing here so early?”

“Me?” Josh asked.

“Yes, you. The first I ever see of you in this office is when you walk through the door shouting Donna’s name as loud as you possibly can. Since when do you start your day without that?” CJ asked.

“I couldn’t sleep so I came in early,” Josh said with a shrug.

CJ gave him a suspicious glance. “You couldn’t sleep? Not that that’s unusual but we’re not in an election year…yet.”

“I, you know, I had some stuff on my mind,” Josh told her as he nervously ran a hand through his hair.

CJ’s gaze grew even more suspicious and he was about to confess everything until he heard familiar footsteps approaching. He turned and gave Donna a questioning look. She smiled softly and held up an envelope with his name on it. A slow smile spread across his face as she placed the letter in his hand.

“Is it official?” Josh asked as he stared at the envelope.

She nodded. “I signed the paperwork last night.”

CJ looked between the two of them in confusion. “Is what official? What paperwork? Is this why you were here early? What’s in the envelope?”

“Donna’s two weeks notice,” Josh said quickly with a grin.

CJ’s eyes went wide and she blinked. “What?” She turned to Donna and nearly dropped her paperwork while trying to grab her friend’s shoulders. “You’re quitting? What happened? You two didn’t fight, did you? And if you did why the hell are you both so smiley?”

Donna bit back her laughter at CJ’s frantic face. “No, no fight. Amy Gardner offered me a job.”

“Amy Gard—Did I wake up in some sort of backward universe or something?” CJ asked in a raised voice. She pointed at Josh and glared at him. “Why aren’t you pissed? Or sulking?” He grinned wider at her and she released Donna’s shoulder to slap Josh across the back of the head. He winced and rubbed the back of his head. “Stop being so happy! You’re freaking me out!” She turned back to face Donna. “And you! You’re leaving? You took a job working for Amy Gardner? What the hell?”

“Actually, I’m not working for Amy Gardner,” Donna said as she reached out and patted CJ’s shoulder consolingly.

“You’re not?” Josh asked in surprise. “Then why did she—“

“She likes to push your buttons, Joshua. Surely you know that by now. She’s a lot crazy and a lot vindictive,” Donna told him.

“An absolutely accurate analysis,” CJ said with a chuckle. “So, then who are you working for?”

“Amy and I are both working for the same person and you’re not going to believe who,” Donna said with a secretive grin.

“Who?” Josh asked again.

“Josephine McGarry,” Donna stated plainly.

CJ’s eyes widened. “Really? So, she retires from the school system and decides to become a what?”

“Lobbiest for women’s issues,” Donna told her. “Well, technically Amy and I are doing the lobbying. Josie’s just pointing us in the right direction.”

“Now we know why Amy wanted to hire you so badly,” Josh said with a smirk.

“Why?” Donna asked curiously.

“Good cop, bad cop. You’re the good cop.”

Donna grinned at him and nodded. “Okay, this is going to be fun.”

Josh laughed and then held the letter up for her and CJ to see. “I’ll file this with HR today.”

“Oh my God,” CJ said as she pulled Donna in for a hug. “You’re leaving. You’re actually leaving.”

Josh smiled sadly at Donna and then stepped into his office to give her and CJ a moment.

“You know, what I said before Gaza—I didn’t mean—please don’t let me have been the one to—I never meant to break up you and Josh, Donna. Really. I just didn’t want you to waste away while typing memos and scheduling appointments. You’re too intelligent for that,” CJ said apologetically. “I lashed out at you and I shouldn’t have done that.”

Donna sighed and glanced toward Josh’s office. She hadn’t told him about her and CJ’s conversation and she really didn’t want to get into it now. “It’s okay, CJ. You actually had some pretty good points and if you hadn’t said what you said I don’t think—I don’t think I would have even considered accepting Amy’s offer. And, besides, you didn’t break up me and Josh.”

“I didn’t?” CJ asked with a small grin.

Donna bit her bottom lip and tried not to blush. “No, you didn’t. He actually _told me_ to take the job. I said no and then _he_ told me to do it.”

CJ smiled warmly at her and then looked over Donna’s shoulder at Josh’s office. She turned back to Donna and nodded her head. “Of course he did. He believes in you, Donna. He always has.”

She nodded and smiled shyly. “I’m starting to see that now.”

“So, in two weeks, what happens?” CJ asked curiously with a smirk. Donna didn’t answer so CJ continued. “What happens between the two of you when you’re no longer his assistant and he’s no longer your boss?”

“Hopefully good things, CJ,” Donna said with a smile. “Very good things.”

CJ nodded. “I have no doubt. Alright, well I’d better get back to it. Congratulations, by the way. I forgot to say that. You’ll be great, Donna. Don’t doubt yourself.”

“I won’t,” She said with a smile. “I had excellent teachers.”

“Damn right you did,” Josh said from his office doorway.

She turned and pointed an accusing finger at him. “Do not let that go to your head!”

“Too late,” Josh told her with a smirk. He glanced over at the clock on her desk and then down at the envelope he still held in his hand. “HR’s in now. I’ll take this by there. You’ll post the position by the end of the day?”

She nodded and gulped. She paused and then spoke, “I can do that. Easy Peasy, I just have to, you know, describe all the duties of my position. What even are the duties of my position? I’ve never even seen a job description for Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff.”

Josh grinned and stepped toward her. “That’s because you created the job to begin with. If you hadn’t walked into campaign headquarters I don’t think I would have realized I even needed an assistant.”

“I still have that badge you gave me,” Donna admitted with a grin.

“Yeah?” He asked as he gave her an affectionate smile.

She nodded and took a step toward him. “It’s hanging on my vanity mirror at home.”

For being in the West Wing they both knew they were standing far too close, but neither particularly cared. Once again Josh’s hand reached for the sleeve of her blouse and he fiddled with the buttons on the sleeves. “You’ll have the job description ready by the end of the day?”

She nodded wordlessly and took his hand in hers for a brief moment. “We’ll start interviews by the end of the week. I’d like to find someone soon so that I have enough to time to train them before…”

He squeezed her hand when her sentence trailed off. “We’ll find someone. They won’t be anywhere near as good as you but I’ll settle for less if I have to. Maybe I’ll have someone I can train not to argue with me this time.”

She gave him a scolding look. “Josh.”

“Someone who won’t question my decisions. Someone who thinks my word is law and that I am a god among men,” Josh said with a smirk.

“Oh God, I hope not,” Donna told him with a chuckle before she hesitantly released his hand. “Take the letter. I’ll start on the job description.”

He turned to leave and shouted over his shoulder as he left. “A god among men, Donna!”

She rolled her eyes and sat down at her desk with the biggest smile she’d worn in a very long time. Two weeks from now she’d be living a whole new life. A different life and doing things that meant something to people, to the nation, to the world. She was beyond excited and the fact that somehow this was happening without her having to lose Josh was…nothing short of a miracle. She always thought that when she left he’d fight her on it or ignore her completely until she just had to quit him cold turkey. She never wanted that to happen, of course, but Josh had a tendency to avoid personal conversations when he knew what the outcome would be.

She was beyond grateful that they’d managed to avoid that. She felt like they’d side stepped a landmine. Two weeks from now she’d have to do something she never thought she’d do. She’d have to thank Amy Gardner. Without Amy’s offer things probably would have happened just as Josh had predicted the day before. They would have grown apart and she would have left and they would end up losing each other. Now, though, Amy had given them the gift of freedom. In two weeks she and Josh could be whatever they wanted to be. They were no longer trapped by their titles and chain of command. It was a fresh start and a brand new adventure.

There were still a few difficult tasks left for her to do as Josh’s assistant, though, and the first one was going to be more challenging than she anticipated. How in the world was she going to describe an assistant that could handle Joshua Lyman? Sometimes _she_ could barely handle him. What perfect stranger could she possibly hire that could pick up where she left off?

* * *

 

By the time Josh returned to his office he’d been stopped several times. Each person had tilted their head to the right, given him a sympathetic look, and asked “How are you?” Which to him said they’d already heard about Donna’s two weeks notice. She’d barely handed it to him half an hour ago. How did they know already? He’d worked in a lot of buildings, but The White House was the most gossip hungry building he’d ever been in. The fact that everyone expected him to be devastated also bothered him. Did every one know exactly how invaluable Donna was to him? Had he really been that indiscreet about the whole thing?

Not only that but did people really expect so little of him to think that he wouldn’t be happy for her?

Who was he kidding? He was only happy for her because he was under the threat of losing her. That same threat was what led him to send her on the Gaza trip. The Gaza trip that turned horribly wrong. Keeping her around had quickly become more important to him than anything else. If letting her go, professionally speaking, meant keeping her around outside of the office then he had to do it. He had to support what she wanted.

After all, she’d supported him long enough. Wasn’t it about time he repaid her?

He approached Donna’s desk and found Margaret there. Fussing over Donna.

“Where are your crutches?”

“Margaret, really, I’m fine. I’ve got a physical therapist who says I only need to use the crutches if my leg feels weak. It doesn’t feel weak.”

“So, you’re not leaving because of, you know…”

Donna glanced at Margaret in surprise. “How did you know that I’m leaving?”

“Everyone knows. Tom in Personnel called Carol the minute your letter was placed in his hands,” Margaret told her with a shrug.

“My leaving has nothing to do with Gaza. I survived it. I’m here. It’s just…time,” She said honestly. “I have a second chance, you know? I’m not gonna waste it.”

Josh took those words and committed them to memory. She was right. She was always right. He knocked on the frame next to Donna’s desk to let her and Margaret know he was there.

Margaret immediately turned, tilted her head to the right, and with a sympathetic look asked, “How are you, Josh?”

He chuckled at her and rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re the fourth person to ask me that in exactly that tone in the last half hour. Everyone knows?”

Margaret nodded. “Everyone knows. So, you’re fine?”

He sighed and then gave her a bored look. “Yeah, I’m fine. For crying out loud! She’s taking another job not moving to Antarctica.” As he continued he began to gesture wildly. Donna put a hand over her mouth to hide her grin. “She’ll still be in DC, she’ll still live in the same apartment! Just because I won’t see her in the office doesn’t mean I won’t _see_ her outside of it. Right, Donna?”

Donna smiled at him and nodded. “Right, boss.”

“Good! Now can we all get back to work?” Josh exclaimed. “It’s not an apocalypse. The world is not coming to an end.”

“It sort of is, though. It’s the end of an era,” Margaret said before she turned and headed back to her own desk.

Josh blinked after her as if that thought had never occurred to him. “End of an era,” he repeated.

“End of one, start of another,” Donna told him as she came to stand beside of him.

“Yeah, but…no more late nights together in the West Wing, no more Crash forced lock ins, no more sitting beside of me on Air Force One—“

“Because I did that oh so many times,” Donna said with a dry grin.

His eyes met hers. “No more hearing you ask, ‘Do you need anything?’”

“Not in this office anyway,” she said with a flirtatious grin. “No more—“ She paused to shift her stance to mimic Josh’s and then spoke up in a voice that imitated him. “DONNA!”

He laughed and nodded at the intern that gave them a strange look as he passed. “Hi, how you doin’?” He turned back to Donna with a smirk. “Do I really sound like that?”

She nodded. “No more free shoes when you make me work unpaid over time, no more free pastries that you pretend you bought for yourself, and no more obnoxious victory proclamations.”

He smirked and repeated her earlier words. “Not in this office anyway.”

“Bigger and better things are ahead, Josh,” Donna told him. “For _both_ of us.”

He nodded and smiled softly at her. “How’s the job description coming?”

“Don’t ask,” Donna said with a sigh. “You require a lot of help.”

“What? I do not!” Josh said in an offended tone.

She gave him a bored look in response.

“Okay, so maybe I do.”

The phone on Donna’s desk rang and she quickly answered it. “Josh Lyman’s office.” Her face broke out into a large smile. “Sam! How _are_ you?” Josh smiled softly at her as she blushed at something Sam said. He leaned against the frame beside her desk and listened to her side of the conversation. “How in the world did you—“ She chuckled and then nodded. “Of course she did. Well, thank you. Yes, I’m very excited.” She paused again. “I know. I couldn’t believe it either. Thank you, Sam. That’s sweet.” She glanced up at Josh before she continued. “Yeah, he’s in. Of course, I’ll put you through.” She pressed the transfer button and put the phone on the hook. “A call from Sam is waiting for you on line one in your office.”

“How did he—"

“CJ called him.”

“In the last half hour?” He asked in surprise before he shook his head. “Of course she did.”

“You let Amy Gardner take Donna?” Toby exclaimed as he marched toward Josh’s office. “I understand you split the assets in a divorce but Donna is not on the table, Josh!”

Donna laughed out loud at the terrified expression on Josh’s face as he rushed into his office and slammed the door.

“I’m on a very important phone call, Donna! No interruptions!” He yelled through the door.

“Coward!” Donna shouted back.

“Hey, Sam, what’s up?” Josh asked as he picked up the phone and sat down at his desk.

“Donna quit to work for Amy?”

“Not for. With. She’s actually going to be working with Josephine McGarry.”

“Leo’s sister? Really? Wait, does that mean Donna’s working for the WMF?”

“That’s the group,” Josh said with a nod. “They came to _her_ , Sam.”

“Wow, that’s…she’s come a long way, Josh,” Sam said with pride.

“Don’t I know it.”

“Still, Josh. Are you sure you’re okay with this? Donna working with Amy?” Sam asked.

“This isn’t about me, Sam. It’s about Donna. She needs this. She’s wasting away behind that desk and she’s…she’s shutting me out. She thinks I don’t notice but I do. I was trying to keep her close and keep her safe, but I think I just ended up pushing her away. I didn’t lose her in Gaza and I’m sure as hell not going to lose her _now_.” That was about the third time he’d expressed that thought. It hit him harder every time.

“Good,” Sam said with an audible smile.

“Good?” Josh asked. “Were you baiting me?”

“Maybe.”

“Hey, isn’t it like five in the morning your time?” Josh asked as he glanced at his watch.

“I had to call you as soon as I heard. This is a big deal. It’s practically the end of—“

“An era? Were you gonna say end of an era?” Josh asked.

“Yes. How did you—“

“Margaret said something similar.”

“She’ll still be in DC, Josh, but it’ll be different. You know that, right?” Sam asked worriedly. “You’re not used to her having a life that’s kept separate from yours.”

“Not until recently, at least,” He said with a sigh.

“What?” Sam asked.

“She doesn’t talk about it.”

“Gaza? Well, Josh…would you?”

“No, in fact, I didn’t and we all saw how that turned out. She didn’t let me near her recovery either.”

“She’ll tell you when she’s ready. Just give her a little time. “

He took a deep breath. “Yeah.” He paused and then continued. “I think the change will be good for us though. It’ll be different but I think she and I need a little _different_. You know?”

“I know,” Sam said sympathetically. “You’re gonna make a move right?”

“What?”

“In two weeks, when she’s not your assistant and you’re not her boss, you plan to actually do something with that, don’t you? You’ll have no reason not to.”

He sighed. “I don’t know about that. She’s going to be a lobbyist, Sam.”

“Didn’t stop you from dating Amy. _Twice_ , by the way.”

“Yes, and that was a spectacular decision,” Josh said sarcastically.

“Donna is not Amy. Donna is practical and level headed. Amy is not. There’s no way Donna would be another Amy fiasco,” Sam told him. “Really, Josh, I need you to listen to me…”

“What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time?”

Sam ignored him and continued speaking. “I’ve known you _without_ Donna and I’ve known you _with_ Donna. I gotta say, I like you better _with_ her than without. You’re much easier to take when she’s around.”

“Gee, thanks,” Josh said dryly. “Have I ever told you how much these warm and fuzzy moments mean to me? Because really they’re—“

“Make a move, man. Do something.”

There was a pounding on his door and he heard Donna shout Toby’s name in a scolding tone. Josh sighed. “I gotta go.”

“Toby just found out about Donna?”

“Yes.”

“He wants your head on a spear, doesn’t he?”

“And probably to have me drawn and quartered too.”

“Good luck. If it helps, I think this is best for both of you,” Sam assured him.

“It does. Talk to you later, man,” Josh said he hung up. He took a deep breath and braced himself as he opened his office door.

“Are you insane?” Toby yelled. “You let Amy Gardner—“

“First off, I don’t _let_ Amy do anything. No one can control her and she didn’t _steal_ Donna. I encouraged Donna to go, Toby. She needs this. She’s outgrown the bullpen. And if I keep her here I’ll end up losing her completely. I can’t lose her,” Josh explained in a rush.

Toby watched him in silence before he nodded sagely. “Good.”

“Good?”

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

“I think you and Sam worked together for far too long. What was with the yelling?”

Toby shrugged. “Yanking your chain.”

“Since when do you yank anyone’s chain?” Josh asked with a furrowed brow.

“I yanked your chain pretty thoroughly on Election Day a couple of years back.”

“Let’s not use the word yank anymore. It’s started to take on a totally different meaning,” Josh said as he ran a hand through his hair.

“If you keep doing that you’ll lose it even faster. Trust me,” Toby told him.

“Okay, get out.”

“Two weeks from now if you don’t make a move—“

“Get out, get out, get out!”

“By the way, I think Donna’s having a hard time with the job description. She was growling at her computer and while I feel her pain I’m afraid someone might question her sanity,” Toby said as he motioned toward Josh’s office door.

“Will you get out?”

Toby grinned slightly and left Josh’s office at an excruciatingly slow pace. Once he was gone Josh poked his head out the door to check on Donna. “How ya doin?”

“I’m questioning how I kept my wits all these years. Did I really do all of this? Who else is going to be willing to do all of this for my measly paycheck? How did I not go insane? Why haven’t I been institutionalized yet? We’re never going to fill my position. This is hopeless,” Donna ranted.

Josh smirked at her. “You done?”

“Yes.”

“Do you need any help?”

“Yes.”

“Did you try looking at assistant descriptions from other departments?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“They don’t cover the most important things.”

“Did you ask Margaret?”

“She’s busy acclimating CJ. Her word, not mine. You have a meeting at the OEOB in ten, by the way.”

“I do?”

“Ways and Means wants to discuss something they disclosed to Leo but refuse to disclose to Margaret or myself. So, you should probably call him before you go,” Donna said as she glared at her monitor.

“And this got farmed out to me because?”

“Toby didn’t want it and Rina scares me a little bit.”

“Get Annabeth to help you, and what’s so scary about Rina? She’s only a tiny bit taller than Annabeth.”

“And feisty. Plus she’s good at her job.”

Josh paused thoughtfully before he started to ask Donna a question.

“No, you can’t steal her from Toby,” Donna said in a bored tone. “Besides, I like her. I’d never put her through this.”

“Hey! I’m not _that_ bad!”

“I’ll figure it out. Call Leo, you’re down to 8 minutes until the Meeting-that-shall-not-be-named,” She told him with a shrug.

“I’ll call him on the way,” Josh said as he grabbed his backpack out of his office. “I can help you with that when I get back.”

“Don’t worry about it. I got it,” Donna assured him. She continued to glare at the screen in frustration as Josh made his way out of the office. Donna sighed and squirmed in her chair. Why couldn’t she do this? Why didn’t anything sound right? It was either too much or not enough. Her description was either going to be so boring it’s ignored or so intimidating it scares potential applicants away.

A throat cleared next to her desk and Donna looked up to find Abbey Bartlet smiling at her. Donna jumped out of her seat so fast that she strained her weak leg ever so slightly and winced before she spoke.

“Dr. Bartlet!” Donna exclaimed.

Abbey placed a hand on Donna’s arm in concern. “Are you alright?”

She nodded and breathed deeply. “Yes. Just stood up a little too quickly. What brings you here, ma’am?”

“You,” Abbey said with a smile. “Amy told me you accepted the job with WMF?”

Donna smiled brightly and nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”

“I couldn’t be happier about that,” Abbey said excitedly as she hugged Donna. “The WMF works on my issues almost exclusively. You’ll get to know my staff very well, I’m sure. I read your notes from Gaza. I knew you were exceptionally bright, Donna, but—well, no wonder Josh has kept you to himself all these years.”

Donna blushed and chuckled. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Where’s Josh? I want to commend him for being a grown up and letting you go,” Abbey said teasingly.

Donna laughed. “He is perpetually twelve years old. Isn’t he?”

Abbey grinned at her in amusement. “Who would know that better than you, dear?”

“No one, ma’am,” Donna said with a smirk. “He’s on his way to a meeting at the moment.”

“How are you doing, Donna? Your injuries healing well? Josh told us you had a collapsed lung and fractured femur?” Abbey asked in her most doctor-like voice.

“The leg still hurts sometimes but I don’t have to use the crutches unless I absolutely need them,” Donna told her honestly.

“And your breathing?”

“My lung healed up before I landed at Andrews, Dr. Bartlet,” Donna said as she shifted uncomfortably.

“Does talking about this bother you, Donna?” Abbey asked curiously.

“I don’t know. I guess. It’s just—“

“What?” Abbey asked as she placed a hand on Donna’s arm.

“I take care of everyone else. It’s what I do. I…I don’t do well when people try to take care of me. It’s unnerving,” Donna admitted. Her eyes widened in surprise and then she gave Abbey an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ve never—I’ve never told anyone that before. I don’t know why I—“

“Oh please, if anyone understands that train of thought it’s me. You have nothing to worry about. I’m the caretaker in my family too, you know? In fact, the one time I distanced myself from Jed was when I knew he’d want to take care of _me_. It made me angry and I didn’t think I needed it. So I laid the blame on him and whisked Zoey away to New Hampshire. Part punishment, part defense mechanism. If I take care of other people then no one else can disappoint me and if I withhold the other person’s ability to take care of me then…well I know, on some level, that I’m hurting them,” Abbey said as she gently squeezed Donna’s shoulder. “I know exactly what you’re doing. I do it too. But Donna, don’t you think you’ve punished that poor boy enough?”

Donna’s eyes fell to the floor and when she looked back up at Abbey there were tears gathering in them. “How did you—“

“My offices are in the East Wing, Donna. I’m not blind,” She said with an affectionate smile. “Why don’t you leave this for a moment. Let’s go to the Residence. We’ll have some tea.”

“The Residence?” Donna asked in shock. “I’ve never been to the Residence.”

“Well, then today’s your lucky day.”


	3. Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Bartlet and Donna have a chat.

 

“You’ve never talked to Josh about Gaza, have you?” Abbey asked knowingly.

“Nothing changed when I got back. In fact, despite him rushing to my side I felt the furthest away from him I’d ever felt. He kept me at arm’s length and because of that I—“

“You returned the favor,” Abbey said for her as she poured two glasses of tea in a sitting room in the Residence.

“Yes,” Donna answered honestly. “If he wanted us to be boss and assistant then I thought it was crossing a professional line. It was…petty but I thought it made sense.”

“It was petty but so are most arguments between two people who are as involved as you and Josh are,” Abbey told her with a kind smile. “I’ve done some pretty petty things to Jed over the years. Trust me. But that boy is absolutely crazy about you. I’m sure whatever he was doing was somehow justified. You know him and you know how much of a fixer he is. He probably thought he was doing some of this for your own good.”

Donna smiled softly at her and nodded. “He sort of said something like that yesterday.”

“The two of you need to talk about what happens in two weeks,” Abbey told her kindly. “Talk about it now and then you won’t have to worry about it later and the less likely it is that things fall apart.”

Donna nodded and took a sip of her tea. “You’re right. I know you’re right. Margaret said something today that I think bothered Josh. He’s putting on a supportive face but I know he has his doubts.”

“What did she say?” Abbey asked.

“She called my new job the ‘end of an era’,” Donna told her with a sigh.

Abbey chuckled. “Yes, that would do it. I’d imagine that would hit him rather hard.”

“I talked to him about it as much as I could while in the bullpen, but there’s only so much we can say while I’m still his assistant.”

“And while you’re still in the West Wing,” Abbey said with a nod. “Then get him out of the West Wing. Go out to dinner or better yet stay in for dinner. You can’t wait until your first day at WMF to talk to him. It’ll wear you both down. Trust the woman who’s married to the man who’s married to his job. Who’s not that different from Josh, by the way,” Abbey told her with a kind smile.

“Yes, ma’am,” Donna said with a grin and a nod.

“Good,” Abbey said with a smile. “So, are you excited about the job?”

“Very,” Donna said with a bright smile. “I can’t wait to apply some of the things I’ve learned here. I am very happy to be able to get my hands dirty for issues I care about. To be one of the ones making things happen. This is the chance I’ve been waiting for. The change I’ve needed for a few years now. It’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

“No one deserves it more than you, Donna,” Abbey told her. “You’ve done outstanding work over the years and you’ve proved yourself at every turn. Josie is lucky to have you on her team.”

“That means so much coming from you, ma’am,” Donna told her warmly. “Thank you.”

“No thanks necessary, Donna. You earned every word,” Abbey told her.

There was a knock at the door and Abbey announced for whoever it was to come in. Abbey’s assistant entered the room with a phone held to her ear.

“It’s Josh Lyman, ma’am,” she told her.

Abigail chuckled. “I expected that. I’m assuming he wants his assistant back?”

“He did mention something about you kidnapping her. Yes,” the young woman said with a grin.

Donna rolled her eyes and chuckled. “So dramatic." 

“Tell him that I am sending her back to him as we speak,” Abbey said with a smirk. “Also you should advise him that The First Lady thinks he should learn to share.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said with grin as she left the room and then spoke into the phone.

“Thank you for the tea, Dr. Bartlet,” Donna said as she took one last sip.

“You’re very welcome, my dear,” Abbey told her. “When you start working for WMF I hope you’ll come visit. Don’t let yourself become a stranger. Okay?”

Donna nodded and turned to face her as she headed to the door. “Of course, ma’am.”

* * *

 

When Donna got back to the office Josh was leaning against her desk, anxiously reading over the note she’d left.

“You know,” Donna said as she reached him. “Dr. Bartlet’s right. You need to learn to share.”

He looked up and grinned at her. “I have to enjoy what little work time I have left. Besides, this job description won’t write itself.”

Donna groaned and sighed. “It’s the bane of my existence.”

He chuckled at her and then handed her a piece of yellow paper from a legal pad. “Then you’re going to absolutely love me.”

She took the paper from him and read over it quickly. It was the job description. “You wrote it?” she asked him with a bright smile.

He nodded. “I know what I need in an assistance and, believe it or not, I noticed everything you did that wasn’t technically a part of your job. I thought someone looking in from the outside might be able to explain it a bit more clearly,” he admitted. “So, yes, I wrote it for you. How is it?”

“It’s perfect,” Donna told him happily. “Thank you.”

“I was looking at my schedule while you were gone—“

“You know how to read a schedule?” she asked teasingly. “All these years I just assumed you couldn’t read one.”

He rolled his eyes. “Funny. Can I finish my sentence?”

“Sorry, do continue,” Donna said with a smirk.

“It looks like I may actually end my day today before what normal people might call dinner time,” Josh said as he gave her a grin and a side glance.

“How did that happen?” Donna asked him. She knew where this was going but she was going to enjoy playing dumb.

“I really don’t care,” he told her. “However, that does leave me available for dinner should you be available as well.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” Donna said as she moved around him to sort the papers on her desk.

He gave her a confused look for a moment before he continued. “Yes, it is. So you know, we should.”

“Should what?” She asked him.

“Donna,” he said with a huff. 

She smirked at him. “Spit it out, Josh. I’m not going to say it for you.”

He rolled his eyes and then grinned at her. “I was thinking we could have dinner together. Tonight. Maybe we could talk,” he told her seriously.

“Talk?” She asked curiously. “About what?”

“About what’s gonna happen after your two weeks is up,” he told her as he met her gaze. “I think we need to make things completely clear before then.”

“Me too,” she said softly. “We should definitely have dinner tonight.”

“And talk?” He asked again.

She nodded. “And talk.”

“Okay,” he said with a nod and a smile. “Be sure to pencil yourself in to my schedule.”

Donna chuckled. “Will do, Joshua.”

And then the day went back to normal. She typed up the job description and sent it to HR who got to work posting it and sending it to employment agencies in the area. They’d wait about three days for the applications to pile up before they’d start looking through them and then she’d have three to four days to pick an applicant and then about two or three to try and train them. It was going to be torture.

But for tonight and the next three days it would essentially be business as usual. Donna looked up to find Josh standing in the doorway of his office watching her with a small smile. She met his gaze for a moment, he looked away from her, and then ducked into his office. Well, almost business as usual.

Not that she minded.

* * *

 

Work was done for the day and Josh was waiting for Donna to lock up sensitive items in her desk. He was going to walk her out of the office, which wasn’t at all unusual for them but they couldn’t let anything seem different. Not with the White House Press Corp wandering around at any given moment. Josh took her bag and together they walked to her car.

“Okay, so what are we doing?” Donna asked when they reached her car.

“I thought we could eat in,” Josh told her. “At my place. I would say you could ride with me but if we left your car here people would notice.”

She nodded. “Okay, no problem. I’ll meet you there.”

“Sorry, this isn’t exactly how I wanted—“

“I know,” Donna said softly. She smiled warmly and then took her bag back from him. “I understand. Besides, your concern about how it would look makes me feel a little more confident.”

His brow furrowed. “What?”

“Well, if you’re concerned about how it would look then clearly there’s something to _see_ , isn’t there?” Donna asked with a sly smile. “It means whatever this is isn’t one sided and I’m not delusional. So, it may not be perfect but it makes me feel less nervous and, really, perfect is over rated anyway.”

His eyes roamed her face for a long moment and he smiled at her in amusement. “Your mind is a very complicated place, isn’t it?”

She laughed and nodded. “Absolutely. But so is yours, my friend.”

“The old takes one to know one. That’s what you’re going with?” Josh asked with a grin.

“It hasn’t failed me thus far,” Donna told him. “So, your place? Now?”

He nodded. “Knowing how you drive you might even beat me there.”

She rolled her eyes. “Funny.”

“Yes, I am. Thank you,” Josh said as he opened her driver’s side door for her. “How’s your leg today, by the way? Good?”

Donna nodded and smiled warmly at him. “Yes, Josh, my leg is fine.”

“Okay, just checking. You were on it an awful lot today. You’re not a failure if you need the crutches, you know?” Josh asked her worriedly.

“I know,” Donna answered. “Trust me, if I have an issue I’ll use them.”

“How are you going to use them if you don’t even bring them to the office?” Josh asked her pointedly.

She rolled her eyes at him. “They’re in the backseat, you jerk. I just didn’t take them inside.”

He looked past her to peer in her backseat window and then gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Apology accepted. It’s cute that you worry.” Donna leaned into his space and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek. That was safe enough to do just outside of the office. “See you at your place?”

He nodded. “Absolutely.” Yet he didn’t move. He just stood there and flashed her a dopey smile.

“Josh, you know at some point you have to go to your car, right?” Donna asked with a knowing grin. “Or else we’ll be standing here all night.”

He shook himself and then cleared his throat. “Right, right. My car.” Josh pointed over his shoulder. “It’s right over there. I should go to it.”

Donna chuckled at him and nodded. “Yes, yes you should. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” She then slipped into the driver’s seat and closed her door. Josh waved as he backed away from her car and headed toward his own.

This was going to be a very interesting dinner.


	4. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Donna finally talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I missed last week guys! It was a crazy week! But here's another chapter for you! Enjoy!

 

A few minutes later she arrived at Josh’s apartment and let herself up. The doorman knew her and she had a key. It wasn’t at all strange for her to visit Josh’s building. People in his building knew her. Out of courtesy tonight, though, she knocked when she reached his door. He answered quicker than she thought possible and pulled her inside.

“What took you so long?” He asked eagerly.

“Gee, good to see you too, Joshua,” Donna told him with a dry smile. “Yes, my drive was wonderfully uneventful. There was one strange detour that seemed to take forever to get through, but other than that it was fine.”

“Right! The detour! I forgot to tell you what street to avoid,” he said with a wince. “My fault.”

“Yes, yes it is. You absolutely caused and arranged for the detour,” Donna said sarcastically as she stepped inside and he closed the door behind her. “It’s fine, Josh. Don’t worry about it.”

“I ordered Chinese food,” Josh told her. “Want a beer?”

“I would love a beer,” Donna said with a nod as she took off her jacket and set aside her bag. She took a seat on Josh’s couch and quickly slipped off her heels and then tucked her legs underneath her while she sat.

Josh came back and handed her the beer before he sat down next to her. There was an awkward pause and then he finally spoke, “so, today was an interesting day, huh?”

He nervously bounced his leg up and down and avoided eye contact. He was frazzled and anxious. She knew this routine well.

Donna chuckled at him. “Really? I didn’t notice.” She reached over squeezed his hand in a comforting gesture. “Josh, relax. It’s me. It’s _just_ me.”

“Yeah, that’s what has me nervous,” Josh admitted with a small smile. “It’s _you_. This isn’t some girl I bumped into or that I barely know, Donna. It’s _you_.”

“You’re not gonna screw it up, Josh,” Donna told him with a smirk. “You’ve already screwed up at least a million times before and I’m still here.”

He laughed and then nodded. “Fair point.”

“So, what happens in two weeks?” Donna asked as she confronted the elephant in the room.

“We’re just gonna jump right in?” Josh asked her in shock.

She nodded. “Yes, we are. What happens in two weeks?”

“In two weeks you and I will have an actual official date. In public, where people might see us,” Josh told her. “And since I know it will go well, we’ll probably plan to do it again and then again and definitely again after that. In fact, I think we’ll probably keep it going for the foreseeable future.”

Donna beamed at him for a moment before she spoke. “No pressure, then. Good.”

He nodded and smiled back at her. “None whatsoever.”

Donna looked down at her their joined hands for a moment and Josh felt the mood in the room shift before she spoke again. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” He asked as he dipped his head to try and meet her gaze. She refused to look up at him.

“For shutting you out when I got back from Germany,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to, but I—you acted like nothing had happened and I resented it. I shut you out to get some sort of sick petty revenge and I shouldn’t have. I should let you be there for me. I should talk to you,” she told him. Her voice sounded thicker as if she were holding back tears and he quickly reached a hand out to lift her chin. He forced her to meet his eyes and confirmed it. Her eyes were watery and regretful.

“Don’t apologize for that. You can tell me whatever you want to tell me whenever you want to tell me,” he told her with a shake of his head. “I only have a right to know what you feel comfortable telling me. No more, no less. I just worry. You know me, I always worry.”

“Did I ever tell you how much seeing you when I woke up meant to me?” Donna asked softly as she met his eyes with the full force of her emotions. “Did I? Because I’m almost certain having you there saved my life more than those doctors ever could.”

“No,” he told her with an affectionate smile. “You survived that through your own force of will. I was just there to offer a bit of morale. I did nothing.”

“Yeah, well, I needed that ‘bit of morale’ to get through so thank you,” Donna told him.

“It was about time I returned the favor. You’ve been my morale for years now,” he said with a nod. “I was due.”

They watched each other for a long moment with shy smiles before Donna leaned forward and closed the distance between them. She kept Josh’s gaze and pressed her forehead to his.

“I so want to kiss you right now,” she said honestly.

“Yeah?” He asked with a smirk.

“Don’t let that go to your head.”

“Too late.”

“But if I do,” she said as she nervously bit her bottom lip. “Everything changes.”

“Everything’s already changed, Donna. From the minute Amy offered you that job, everything changed,” he assured her. “But if you’d rather wait for another two weeks I—“

His sentence was interrupted by her lips on his. He smiled against her lips and then wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer and deepen the kiss. Her hands traveled up his shoulders, over his neck, and into his hair. His hands were on her waist and then shifted to her back and slowly slipped underneath her shirt. He satisfied himself for the moment by tracing small circles on her skin with his fingers. Donna seemed to appreciate that. He could tell because she moaned softly as they continued to kiss. For several more moments the only sound in his dimly lit living room were the sounds of them kissing until finally Donna pulled away.

“We should stop,” she said as she tried to catch her breath. “For now at least.”

He chuckled and then reluctantly released her. “Yeah, okay. We’ll pick it up again in two weeks?”

“Absolutely,” Donna told him as she placed one last, chaste kiss on his lips. “You said you ordered Chinese, right? Any idea where it is? Because I’m starving.”

“We switched from kissing to food just like that, huh?” Josh asked in surprised amusement.

“What can I say? I’m hungry.”

“You’re a puzzle, Donnatella. An absolute puzzle.”

“I know, isn’t it great? I always keep you on your toes, Joshua, and you need to be kept on your toes,” Donna told him with a smirk. “That’s why you keep me around. You know that, right?”

“Oh, I could think of a few other reasons but I’d say that’s definitely a big one,” Josh said with a laugh. There was a knock on his door and he immediately stood up to answer it. “That would be the food.”

Donna nodded and then headed into his kitchen. He watched her as he headed to the door. She was getting down a couple of plates and getting out silverware. She never paused to guess where anything was. She knew. Something about Donna knowing the exact layout of his kitchen by heart was a bit… _sexy_. He answered the door, got the food, and paid the delivery guy while trying to think about anything besides Donna being extremely familiar with his kitchen and how appealing that actually was.

The next two weeks were going to be awfully difficult. Especially, now that he’d kissed her. He was already wondering if there was enough of an opening in his schedule to have a ‘private’ meeting or two in his office tomorrow. Which was a bad thought. A very bad and unprofessional thought that would get both of them in trouble.

He’d barely been able to keep his distance before they’d talked and now it was going to be completely impossible.

* * *

 

The next morning everything was normal or at least appeared that way. Josh was making phone calls to various offices about an upcoming vote that they were having a hard time turning their way. He’d finished one phone call and Donna came in to tell him his next call was already on line two. She turned to leave and they both found the President watching them.

Both Josh and Donna jumped at the sight of him.

“Mr. President, sir,” Donna said with a smile and nod. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Donnatella,” The President said with an affectionate smile. “My wife tells me you’ll be leaving us in 2 weeks. Is that true?”

“Yes, sir,” Donna answered. “I’ve been offered a positon with the WMF.”

“Yes, Mrs. Bartlet was absolutely thrilled about that. Congratulations, young lady,” he said as he stepped into the office and shook her hand. “You’ll do very well. I have no doubt.”

“Thank you, sir,” she said with a warm smile.

“Do you mind if I borrow him for a moment?” The President asked Donna as he motioned to Josh.

“No, sir, he’s all yours,” Donna told him. She waved to both of them on her way out and shut the door behind her.

“You plan on telling that girl how you truly feel about her within the next two weeks, don’t you?” The President asked him pointedly.

Josh chuckled. “Are you playing matchmaker, sir?”

“If I have to, yes. I’ve watched you two dance around each other for long enough. Did you know there’s been a long-standing pool concerning the two of you among the staff since the day she joined the campaign?”

“Are you participating in this pool, Mr. President?” Josh asked him with a smirk.

“And I’m all set to profit from it if you’ll just talk to that girl before she leaves in two weeks,” The President told him. “You never answered my question, Josh.”

“I can’t answer your question, sir.”

“Why not?” He asked with a suspicious glare.

“Because it’s already been discussed, Mr. President,” Josh told him.

“Oh, has it now? Well, Abbey will be delighted to hear that.”

“Is that who sent you down here, sir? Are you here to get the latest gossip?” Josh asked him knowingly.

“When you’re married, Josh, you’ll understand,” The President said with a chuckle.

“Did you come down here to do anything but make sure you profited from the office pool, sir?” Josh asked with a grin.

“No, that was about it. Just making sure my Deputy Chief of Staff doesn’t forget to enjoy what little of a life he has,” he answered as he turned to leave the office. “Make sure you discuss _everything_ , Josh. Real men don’t do anything halfway. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you for the advice,” Josh answered him with a nod. “I’ll be sure to remember it.”

“See that you do,” President Barlet told him. “I’ll let you get back to it. Do good work, Josh.”

Josh stood as the President left and nodded to him. “Always, Mr. President.”

Josh leaned out of his office doorway and watched the President stop at Donna’s desk to speak with her and tried his best to listen.

“I trust your not being in the West Wing won’t stop you from keeping that young man in line,” The President told her with a playful wink. 

She laughed and nodded. “I’m not sure I was that good at that before, sir, but it definitely won’t keep me from trying.”

“That’s what I like to hear, Donna,” The President said before he continued his way back to the Oval office.

Donna turned and gave Josh a questioning look. She immediately headed toward him and pushed him back into his office and then shut the door.

“Well, that was different. What was that about?” Donna asked.

“You,” Josh said with a chuckle.

“Me?”

“He wanted to make sure I made a move before you left,” Josh told her with a smirk. “And to tell me all of our coworkers have a pool going about you and me.”

“And he’s got money involved in that pool?” Donna asked in surprise.

“That’s what he said,” Josh told her with a chuckle.

“Well, that’s a strange sort of accomplishment,” Donna said with a smirk.

“You had a chat with the First Lady yesterday. I assumed it was about WMF,” Josh said. “But did she mention me?”

“She told me I should quit punishing you,” Donna said softly. “And she was right.”

His brows rose. “You were punishing me?”

“You had to have noticed the distance that I—“

“Yeah,” he said as he interrupted her with a nod. “I did. That was punishment?”

“It was petty and stupid and cruel. I thought something might change after Germany and then when you seemed content to be simply boss and assistant or whatever the hell we were I thought—“

“You were shoving that professional boundary in my face, weren’t you?”

He didn’t mean to keep interrupting her but he somehow knew exactly where this was going.

“A little bit. Yes,” she admitted. “Like I said, it was petty and I shouldn’t have. I should have let you in.”

“I’m guilty too, Donna,” Josh told her. “I kept you at a distance on purpose. I thought if I put some space between us it would keep you safe. Your connection with me it was put you in Gaza in the first place—“

“Josh, how many times do I have to tell you that it wasn’t your fault—“

“It wasn’t yours either,” Josh reminded her. “If only we could both believe that.”

“We’ll just have to keep believing it for each other,” Donna said with a determined nod. “I’ll keep telling you it’s not your fault and you keep telling me it’s not mine. Eventually, we’ll both believe it.”

Josh chuckled and nodded. “Good plan. Let’s stick with that.”

“HR’s already got a few applications,” Donna told him. “They sent over a stack for you to review earlier.”

“Put them on my desk. I’ll look at them when I have time,” Josh told her with a nod. “I’ll narrow down who I like and then you can look through those for people you like and whoever’s left gets an interview.”

She nodded and turned to leave but he swiftly grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him for a deep, slow, and very thorough kiss. When he pulled away her expression was dazed, even with her eyes closed.

“Donna?” Josh asked with an amused grin.

She slowly opened her eyes and swallowed thickly. “What was that?”

“That was a kiss,” he said slowly with a teasing smirk.

She laughed and smacked his shoulder. “Shut up. You’ve still got Santos on line two, by the way. By my count he’s been on hold for almost ten minutes now.”

Josh’s eyes widened and he cursed under his breath before he scrambled back behind his desk to answer his phone.

“Congressman? Yes, thank you for holding. Sorry about that.”

Donna chuckled and then left Josh’s office with a smirk and a wink.

Oh yeah, he thought sarcastically, she wasn’t going to be a distraction at all.


	5. Replacement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo weighs in on recent events. Josh and Donna start narrowing down candidates to interview.

 

Josh couldn’t bring himself to go through the applications. They’d been sitting on his desk for a full 24 hours now and he’d yet to look through them. He’d had plenty of time but he just couldn’t do it.

There was a knock on his door and he looked up to find Donna smiling at him. “Leo’s on line one.”

“Thanks,” he told her. He noticed her eyes linger on the applications for a split second as she left. He let out a guilty sigh as he picked up the phone. “Hey, Leo.”

“Donna quit?” Leo asked. “Why didn’t you tell me this the other day?”

“I was in a hurry the other day. I had a mystery meeting to go to,” Josh told him. “Which, by the way, even after you explained it and I sat in on it I’m still not sure I understood what it was about.”

“Join the club,” Leo said with a chuckle. “Donna’s going to WMF?”

“Lobbyist, yeah,” Josh said told him.

“I’m gonna call her and warn her about Josie later,” Leo told him. “Did you warn her?”

“Pretty sure Amy did,” Josh answered. “Donna seems to be prepared.”

“Amy and Josie are too similar for Amy to have properly warned her. I’m gonna call her anyway.”

“I’m sure she’d appreciate that, Leo,” Josh said with a grin.

“So, are you gonna make a move now or what?” Leo asked.

Josh laughed. “Why does everyone ask me that?”

“Because it’s been a long time coming, Josh.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember that Christmas The President and I gave you those impossible tasks and I got Donna a ride on that news chopper?”

“Yes,” Josh said with a sigh. He knew where this was going.

“You went on a rant about how you didn’t care and what did I say?”

“You said ‘get it together, would you?’ That’s what you said.”

“Uh huh. Do I need to say it again?”

“Leo—“

“Get it together, would you?”

Josh laughed and then nodded before he realized Leo couldn’t see him. “Donna and I have already talked about this. We have a dinner planned in about two weeks. That’s what I was trying to say.”

“Well, it’s about damn time.”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Josh agreed with a smirk.

“I’m gonna let you go so I can call Donna,” Leo said with a sigh. “I owe it to her to make sure she’s prepared for Josie.”

“Okay,” Josh told him. “Good luck.”

“You too. I know you’re not big on change,” Leo told him. “You’re gonna need it.”

“Yes, I am.”

“You’ll be fine. Just make sure you keep the lines of communication open with this one. Don’t let things get mixed up like you’ve done with all the others. This one’s special. You hear me?” he said in a commanding tone.

Josh smiled to himself before he answered. “I know, Leo. Believe me, I know.”

“Good,” Leo said just before he hung up.

Josh shook his head and smiled at the dial tone. At least, he and Donna would never be able to say their friends didn’t support them.

His conversation with Leo must have done something for him because he suddenly felt like going through the applications. He moved the stack to the center of his desk and picked up the application on top. He read through the qualifications and the stats and then immediately discarded it. A recent college grad from Berkley with a major in pre-law who’d decided not to go to law school in favor of a break to do some real work. He’d graduated top of his class and briefly interned at a major New York news network. Self professed quick learner, hard worker, and team player. Every thing you’d expect a recent college grad to be with nothing that stood out. No quirks or unique hobbies. His cover letter was perfectly composed and had absolutely zero personality.

The next candidate was a woman in her sixties with years of executive secretarial experience at various state level government agencies who had three kids and four grandchildren. Her resume was solid and polished but she seemed thoroughly no nonsense and Josh had a fondness for nonsense. She also went in the discard pile.

Fifteen minutes later when Donna knocked on his door he’d worked his way through half the stack. Exactly half the stack was in the discard pile. He’d found no suitable candidates. At least he didn’t think so.

Donna sighed and glanced at the stack before giving him an accusatory stare.

“What?” Josh asked.

“None of them have been acceptable so far?”

“No.”

“Not a single one?”

“No.”

“Josh,” Donna said knowingly. “I know at least two of those were worth an interview.”

“You looked through them? I thought we agreed I would go through them first?”

“We did, but I looked at the two on top. I was curious. And the top two looked like they’d be worth having a conversation with,” Donna said with a sigh. “Put at least those two in the maybe pile. You’re not going to find anyone who looks perfect on paper. That’s why we’ll do interviews. If you don’t put at least five in the maybe pile then I’ll go through your discards and choose five candidates myself. Okay?”

He huffed. “Fine. I’ll look through them again.”

“Thank you. I’d like to start interviewing by Friday,” she told him. “That way I have at least half a week to train them on what I can. Can you do that for me? For old times sake?”

“I said I’d do it and I’ll do it. You don’t need to lay on the guilt so thick,” Josh told her with a grin.

“Oh come on, I have more rehearsed. You should at least let me use it,” Donna said with a smirk.

“Get back to work, will you?” Josh asked her with a chuckle.

She grinned at him and gave him a playful salute. “Sure thing, Boss.”

He went back through the stack of applications that he’d discarded and managed to pick out ten that seemed reasonable. He then went back to the rest of the applications he hadn’t reviewed yet and found three more. He had a total of thirteen for Donna to approve or decline. That seemed like a suitable number to him. He gathered the two stacks and sat them down in front of her.

“Thirteen that I earmarked for interviews. How ya like them apples?”

Her brows rose and she smirked at him. “I like those apples just fine, Mugsy. Looks like a good bushel—can we stop with the apple thing? It’s weird.”

“Yeah, I don’t know where we were going with that,” Josh said with a chuckle.

“I’ll narrow them down a bit more and make appointments for tomorrow. You’ve got windows that I can squeeze them into between meetings and before wheels up for the Summit,” Donna said as she flipped through his schedule. “I should have a revised schedule for tomorrow for you by the end of the day.”

“Great. Did you speak with Leo?” Josh asked.

She nodded. “Oh yes, he had lots of wisdom and insight about Josephine McGarry. I think I’m sufficiently prepared.”

“Good, she has a tendency to pick fights,” Josh told her with a grin. “Do I have a thing now?”

“Meeting on the China summit,” Donna told him. “Roosevelt Room.”

“Right, protocol crap,” he said with huff. “I’m already napping.”

“Do you need me to do anything while you’re gone?” Donna asked.

“No,” Josh told her. “Focus on the applications. I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.” Just as Josh walked away the phone rang and Donna immediately answered.

“Josh Lyman’s office,” Donna said as she tucked the phone between her shoulder and her chin. “Oh, well Josh just left for a meeting I—Oh—okay, I’ll have to discuss it with him. Can I call you back? Thanks.”

Donna walked briskly toward the Roosevelt Room to try and catch Josh. She was careful not to jog or walk too fast. The last thing she wanted was for Josh to see how weak her leg could be. She caught him just as he was about to walk into the room.

“Josh, Hunt, Haas, and Harris want a meeting with you about the China Summit. They’re on their way over,” Donna said with a sigh. “I tried to hold them off but I don’t think it worked.”

He smirked at her. “This is perfect.”

“Perfect?” Donna asked with a furrowed brow.

“Now I don’t have to go to this protocol thing. Call Rina, have her send Toby to the protocol meeting. Toby and Kate can brief me later,” Josh told her.

“Okay, are you planning to return a call to Hoynes at any point today?” Donna asked him.

“No,” Josh said sternly. “I’m staying as far away from that as I can. He’s looking for press and I want to stay out of it.”

“Right, I’ll call Rina,” Donna told him with a nod. “Where should I put Senator Hunt and crew?”

“And crew?” He asked with a grin.

“I’m not gonna keep saying Hunt, Haas, and Harris. That’s a tongue twister,” Donna told him with a roll of her eyes.

He chuckled at her with a smirk. “Put them in the Mural Room. This meeting will be much more exciting. This is what I’m talking about.”

“You want to be harassed by Senators and a Congresswoman?” Donna asked with a furrowed brow.

“It’s better than a protocal meeting,” Josh told her.

“You’re a strange sort of person,” Donna told him. “You know that, right?”

“I’m well aware,” Josh told her with a smirk. “I’ll be in my office. Let me know when Senator Hunt _and crew_ arrive.”

“Mock me all you want, Joshua. I’m the person in charge of hiring your next assistant and the mocking _will_ come back to bite you in the ass. Or maybe I’ll just make you find your own garment bag for the China trip. Might serve you right to have to take care of yourself for once,” Donna told him as she turned and sauntered back to the bullpen.

He watched her go with half of a smile and a shake of his head. Their banter always made the workday interesting. He rushed back to his office to familiarize himself with the topics for the Summit again. He knew what this meeting was about. They wanted to make sure the White House and the President weren’t planning to go easy on China. Josh needed to prove they weren’t.

* * *

 

That was just the start of the day. The start of two long days, actually. By the end of the next day, Josh was off the China trip, Taiwan had nearly imploded the Summit, Senator Hunt had rallied for Taiwanese independence, and Charlie had managed to do the impossible by getting the White House Curator to give them back an offensive flag. Oh, and Donna had located his luggage.

To top it all off, he had an interesting meeting with Hoynes.

Josh arrived in the office the morning of wheels up for the China trip to find Donna waiting for him in front of his office door with her hand on her hip.

“You cancelled the interviews,” she said with a glare.

“Not cancelled. Rescheduled. And technically, _you_ did that. Not me.”

“Yes, but you asked me to, _boss_ ,” she said with a huff. “You do know that we’re in a time crunch here, right? Whether your new assistant is ready or not, I’m out of here. Putting this off only hurts you in the long run.”

“Donna, we’ve been swamped the last few days and thanks to Pen and Teller last night I don’t think that’s changing any time soon,” Josh told her with a sigh. “I’ve got Vinick today and trying to head off the budget and—“

“I can squeeze them in between meetings,” she told him. “I’ve been doing this for seven years, I know how to do this, Josh. I narrowed it down to 6 solid candidates and knowing you, you can decide whether or not you’ll be able to tolerate them in five minutes. That’s five minutes a person, half an hour total. It’ll take barely any time away from anything on your schedule today.”

“Can I, at least, _look_ at my schedule for today first?” Josh asked her.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “So, that’s a no?”

“No!”

“Now, I’m confused. Was that a ‘no that’s not a no’ or an actual ‘no’?” Donna asked with a furrowed brow.

He sighed and then gave her a pointed look. “Donna.”

“We need to get this done, Josh. You blew me off yesterday and that’s fine, but you can’t blow me off today. I need to get the ball rolling. For your sake and mine,” Donna told him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Fine,” he said in a resigned tone. “Five minutes each, tops. Okay?”

“Okay. Thank you,” she said with a nod. “Your budget thing is waiting for you in the Roosevelt Room.”

“Thanks,” Josh told her as she stepped out of his doorway and headed to her desk. But something was still bugging him. He’d given her the answer she wanted but Donna still wasn’t happy. Josh put his bag down in his chair and then on his way to the Roosevelt Room stopped by Donna’s desk. “Hey,” he said as she turned to look at him. “You know, I think this is important, right? I’m not blowing you off. We really do have a lot going on right now.”

“Okay,” she said with a sigh.

“Donna, really,” he said when she didn’t seem to believe him. She nodded again, but this time Josh grabbed her hand and pulled her into his office. He closed the door behind them. “On top of the China Summit and the UN appointment…I had a meeting with Hoynes last night.”

Her eyes widened and she immediately met his eyes. “You said you didn’t want to return the call.”

“And I didn’t,” he told her.

“You met with him instead?” Donna asked.

“He wants me to run his campaign.”

“Hoynes is running,” Donna stated to herself in disbelief. “I thought after the scandal that he—“

“That’s what the book was about,” Josh told her. “He’s trying to repair his reputation to gain the public’s favor again.”

“And he wants you to lead his campaign?” Donna asked. He knew he didn’t need to answer. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Josh said with a sigh. “So, I wasn’t blowing you off. It’s just been a crazy couple of days.”

She nodded and smiled softly at him. “Okay, I get it. What did you say?”

“I said I’d think about it,” he told her honestly. “I really didn’t know what to say. I still don’t.”

“I can’t believe we’ve reached this point already,” Donna told him. “I feel like we just gained our footing from reelection.”

“The campaigning started before The Inaugural,” Josh told her. “I’m less surprised.”

“Alright, well, you’re now late for your budget thing,” Donna told him as she glanced at her watch.

“Yeah, I should go. But you’re okay?” He asked.

She smiled warmly and then nodded. “I’m fine. Go. Get back to work.”

She watched him go with an anxious feeling settling in her stomach. There were going to be hard decisions ahead of them from now on. If she knew Josh like she thought she did he’d be involved in the upcoming election some way, some how. He’d probably nearly kill himself trying to make sure the country ended up in the right hands. The offer from Hoynes was only the beginning.


	6. Interviews

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Donna finally hire his new assistant.

 

The first interview came and went. The candidate fell completely flat with Josh. Donna had a feeling he reminded Josh a little too much of Ryan Pierce. It took less than the five minutes Donna had scheduled. Josh headed to his next meeting and Donna started to prepare the resume and questions for the next interview. Her phone rang and she answered immediately. It was Margaret. CJ wanted Josh to handled the Pen and Teller flag burning fiasco. Josh was not going to like this. Margaret sent Charlie to her to help her squeeze the flag burning tasks into Josh’s schedule which involved moving Vinick to later in the day and moving the next interview further down the schedule.

She was careful when Josh came back to not mention the China trip or the fact that CJ was ordering him around but as usual Josh threw a bit of a petulant fit and Donna had to tell them truth to get him to go along. Why did she even try to preserve his ego any more? He refused to let anything alone.

The flag burning led to Will handing Josh the Vice President’s statement which led to a meeting with the Vice President which delayed the second the interview. Josh came back sullen and distracted but with the applicant waiting in the bullpen he didn’t have time to tell Donna what had happened.

The second interview went better than the first. It took the full five minutes. The older woman was kind and brought Josh and Donna homemade cookies. She doted over Josh as if he were her own son. Josh loved her. Donna, however, was skeptical. She knew Josh and she knew he would take advantage of the doting and she doubted anything would ever get done if she let this woman run Josh’s office. She needed someone who was willing to be blunt with Josh when necessary. This woman would never do that.

“I liked her,” Josh said as he took yet another cookie out of the tin she left them.

“What is that your fourth cookie?” Donna asked as she closed the tin and took it off of his desk. “She was very sweet but I’m thinking no. You’d gain fifteen pounds and your schedule would be a wreck because she’d do whatever you tell her.”

“Because I am a sweetheart,” Josh told Donna with a smirk. “You heard her call me that, right?”

“She met you for five minutes,” Donna said with a roll of her eyes. “She hasn’t seen the real you yet.”

After the second interview Donna came across Pen and Teller’s statement and Josh went postal on them. They laughed in his face. And then Josh went off to meet with Vinick. He came back from that and immediately found Leo in CJ’s old office. Donna meant to go visit Leo herself but Josh’s schedule had gone off the rails and she was having to get it back on track. It kept her busy. She finally got to Josh’s Christmas Party invites, which wasn’t so difficult since she was turning them all down. It was more tedious than anything else. She was in the middle of responding when she looked up at the TVs in the Bullpen and spotted Baker making an announcement. He was dropping out. She never saw that one coming.

She ran off to get Josh in CJ’s old office. He’d want to know all about this.

They watched the press conference, she reminded Josh they had another interview in a few minutes and then he went back to CJ’s old office to talk with Leo. She knew what they were talking about. The election. The upcoming election was starting to fill up more and more of the air around them. Josh came out of the office a few minutes later.

“I have nothing else today, right?” Josh asked.

“Only thing left is to keep an eye on the flag burning thing,” Donna told him.

“Right, then let’s get the rest of these over with,” he told her. “Can you get the last four people in here now?”

She nodded. “Absolutely. The third candidate is waiting in the lobby and I can contact the other three and move them up.”

“Okay, let’s do it,” Josh told her.

Donna made a few phone calls and then called in the third applicant. The third applicant was perfect on paper but completely underwhelming in person. The interview had taken 4 minutes and 2 of those minutes were completely silent while he attempted to gather his words and stuttered through answers to simple questions. Donna almost felt bad for the kid but considering what the job would consist of it was actually pretty telling of what his job performance would be. The fourth candidate walked in and Donna immediately felt encouraged.

This girl was stone faced and young and looked as though she could stand her ground if she needed to.

“Winifred Hooper?” Donna asked as she stood next to Josh’s chair.

The girl nodded. “That’s me.”

“You were an intern at the GAO?” Josh asked.

“I was,” she said with a proud smile.

“And you have a recommendation from…” Josh stopped reading and laughed loudly. “Sam Seaborn? You know Sam?”

Donna read over the recommendation letter and then beamed at the girl in recognition. “Wait! You’re the girl who went to bat with Sam over all those reports a few years back, aren’t you?”

“You were?” Josh asked with a smirk. “I am definitely rubbing this in his face later.”

“Yes, not my most professional moment,” she said with a slight blush.

“Sam seemed to like you better for it,” Donna told her with a grin.

“Well, he was being an idiot,” Winifred said with a smirk. “He deserved it.”

Now, this was more like it.

Josh asked his standard questions and Winifred answered them all with reasonable and confident answers. She had all of Donna’s requirements and she hoped Josh liked her too. They argued over the importance of a report regarding sanitation workers and then before Donna knew it Winifred and Josh were going head to head on the future of the DNC and the Senate races that needed the most fund raising. Winifred had her own views and opinions and she didn’t hesitate to voice them to Josh. This was exactly what Josh needed. A good debate encouraged him and led to inspiration at any given moment. Donna learned this about Josh very quickly. It seemed Winifred knew it too.

Twenty minutes later they were shaking hands with Winifred and walking her out of the building. Twenty minutes. That was the longest interview yet.

“Yeah,” Josh said as they watched her leave. “I don’t need any more interviews. Hire _her_. I like her. She’s smart and tough. She’ll be perfect.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Donna said with a bright smile. “I loved her.”

“You’ll cancel the other interviews?” He asked.

She nodded. “Right away.”

“Good,” he said with a smile. “Come see me when you’re done.”

She cancelled the interviews and was forced to answer a few additional calls regarding the flag burning and Governor Baker before she could break away and step back into Josh’s office. She closed the door behind her and then sat down across from him.

“What’s up?” Donna asked.

“I got another offer,” he told her with a sigh. “I turned it down, but I thought I should tell you.”

“Russell?” She asked knowingly.

“Yeah,” Josh told her.

“I figured that was coming,” Donna said with a nod. “Russell is a lot of things, but he’s not completely stupid. He’s definitely alert enough to recognize the smartest person in the room.”

“He’s a buffoon,” Josh said with a scoff.

“Maybe, but he knows you’re not,” Donna told him with a smile. “So, you don’t like Russell, you’re uncomfortable with Hoynes. If it’s not one of them, then who?”

“There’s nobody else, Donna. It’s one or the other,” he said with a sigh.

“Who says?” Donna asked him with a pointed glance.

“What?” Josh asked her with a furrowed brow.

“Who says that it’s Hoynes or Russell?” Donna repeated. “Since when have you let other people define what you think is possible? Since when have you passed up on a worthwhile fight?”

“Donna,” he said with a shake of his head. “I don’t think—“

“I’m just saying,” Donna told him with a knowing smile. “It doesn’t have to be one or the other.” She glanced down at her watch and then back up at Josh. “Our day’s over, Boss. I’m going home. I will see you tomorrow. I called Winifred, by the way,” Donna said as she stood up and headed toward his office door. “She comes in tomorrow to fill out her paperwork and then start observing. I should have her pretty well set up before I leave.”

“Good,” Josh told her. “It should work out well, I think.”

“Yeah, me too,” Donna answered. “You know, you should talk to Toby.”

“What about?” Josh asked in confusion.

“Whatever it is you’re thinking and feeling regarding the next President,” Donna told him. “And Leo too. I’d trust the three of you to pick the future leader of my party in a heartbeat.”

“I’m not thinking anything except Russell and Hoynes are terrible choices.”

“Then tell them that,” Donna said with a shrug. “Put your heads together and come up with someone better. I’m not wild about Russell either but I’m sure as hell not voting for Hoynes and if comes down to the two of them…well I may be forced to vote for Vinick. So, please, come up with someone better. Don’t make me vote for a Republican, Joshua. I know how they drive you crazy.” She winked at him and then walked out of his office.

He stared after her thoughtfully and then got up to find Leo in CJ’s old office.

“Sometime when Toby gets back,” Josh said as he stopped in front of Leo. “The three of us need to talk about who our next President is going to be because I can’t let it be Hoynes or Russell. I _can’t_.”

Leo smirked at him and chuckled. “Well, what the hell took you so long?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is probably the last update for a bit. I started this thing two weeks ago, a mission to finish as many WIPs as possible starting with the ones that have been going on the longest. So I have about 5 stories I started before this one that I will be working on. But never fear I will come back to this one as soon as I can!  
> Thanks for reading!  
> angellwings


End file.
